 Back-to-back! Vikings claim SAA title (Photo: SAA)
Back-to-back! Vikings claim SAA title - Mar 2, 2022
With seven seconds on the clock, Berry clung to a one-point lead. The home crowd was deafening, no one was seated. Only one defensive stop to win a tournament championship. Oglethorpe's Dimetri Chambers (5'11''-PG) drove the ball the court with four seconds, and a championship on the line. With a stifling defense from Berry making every effort to prevent a basket, Oglethorpe's final shot never got off as the horn sounded. The Berry bench stormed the court as the Vikings (23-2) won the 2022 Southern Athletic Association Championship for the second time in a row. "It was a team game, and we executed. I wish we would've made some more free throws to make the game a little less dramatic but we came through in the clutch when we needed to," said head coach Trevor Lydic . Early in the first half, Michael Johnson (5'10''-PG) and Chase Ellis (6'2''-G/F) fired up the crowd with back to back three pointers, giving Berry an early five point lead. The Vikings held off the Stormy Petrels until they took a sudden four-point lead thanks to Chambers. "I tried my best to contain him [Chambers] . There were a couple times that I stopped him and a couple times where he hit his shots," said Ellis. After a long offensive slump, Johnson made it a one-point game with two minutes left. But Oglethorpe's offense was too much for the Vikings to defend, as they went into the locker room with a 33-29 deficit. Coming out for the second half, the Petrels extended their lead over Berry to six points, but Johnson and Blake Campbell (6'4''-G) put their team back in the game, snipping the Petrel lead to one. In the first half, Berry made 18 percent of their three pointers, but in the second half, they netted 63 percent of them. "I told our guys that we're a good shooting team and they prove it everyday, we just gotta keep going and finally Robbie made some big shots, Blake Campbell made some big shots. Everyday it's someone different who steps up," said Lydic. Robbie Ruciano finally put the Vikings back in the lead with 3:40 to go, and the Vikings fans likely broke the sound record for The Cage. All the momentum shifted to Berry, with the Vikings finally finding their groove on offense. Dimetri Chambers hit a three-pointer giving his team back the one-point lead, the seventh lead change of the night. But then Ruciano took matters into his own hands, answering Chambers with a three of his own. The Berry defense came alive in the final two minutes, putting everything into getting a win on their homecourt. "The fans made the crowd so fun, I fed off the energy, and it made it great tonight. I'm so thankful for this win, and we're not done yet, we still got a lot left in us but it feels really good to win on my last day in The Cage," said Johnson. Ellis, who was named SAA Championship MVP led the team with 18 points, Johnson, who was named All-Tournament Team followed with 16. The team tallied for 40 rebounds, 11 came from Brooks. Courtesy of Berry SAA Tournament Final: Berry - Oglethorpe 63-62 SAA Tournament Semifinals: Berry - Birmingham-Southern 77-58 Oglethorpe - Hendrix 77-64 Tags : DIMETRI CHAMBERS, OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY, NCAA3 BASKETBALL All-SAA Awards 2022 - Mar 2, 2022
All-Tournament MVP: Chase Ellis (6'2''-G/F) of Berry Player of the Year: Seth Stanley (6'7''-F) of Hendrix Defensive Player of the Year: Riley Costas (6'4''-G) of Berry Newcomer of the Year: Russ Marr (6'3''-G/F) of Sewanee Coach of the Year: Trevor Lydic of Berry First Team Dimetri Chambers (5'11''-PG) of Oglethorpe Dustin Gerald (6'4''-F) of Centre Michael Johnson (5'10''-PG) of Berry Seth Stanley (6'7''-F) of Hendrix Christian Stewart (6'7''-F) of BSC Second Team Austin Brooks (6'8''-F) of Berry Chase Ellis (6'2''-G/F) of Berry Lane Foster (6'0''-PG) of Oglethorpe Colin Kahl (6'8''-F) of Sewanee RJ Smith (6'5''-F) of Centre Honorable Mention Cameron Glover (6'0''-PG) of BSC Sean Coman (6'2''-G) of Hendrix Will Koch (6'6''-F) of Oglethorpe Carlos Sone (6'3''-G) of Oglethorpe Koki Wiley (6'3''-G) of Rhodes All-Tournament Team Chase Ellis (6'2''-G/F) of Berry Michael Johnson (5'10''-PG) of Berry |
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Lydic
